i made such demands openly, companies like Renhetang would vie to hire him with even offers of a million-yuan annual salary, as people like him were usually unattainable no matter how much money one o...Chapter 163: Magic Duel

"Bang!" As soon as the talismans touched the ghosts, a ball of fire shot up into the sky, and one of those ghosts let out a miserable scream before dissipating into nothingness.

The old Taoist had originally thought that Xiao Yu’s body was protected by some kind of object to ward off evil spirits; just like how he gave Cao Er a talisman for protection. So the old Taoist did not pay much attention when those ghosts could not get near Xiao Yu.

Seeing Xiao Yu holding a stack of talismans with an indifferent smile on his face, the old Taoist pulled out one from his pocket to break the protective objects on Xiao Yu’s body. He thought to himself: "So what if you can kill ordinary people You are unlucky to meet me!"

Before the old Taoist could throw out his talisman, he suddenly saw a talisman thrown by Xiao Yu and it instantly destroyed one of his evil spirits.

"Really It’s actually real..."

The old Taoist watched with wide eyes as Xiao Yu casually threw out a talisman without any aura fluctuations. His heart was filled with shock, mumbling to himself subconsciously.

Xiao Yu saw the talisman take down an evil spirit and his lips curled into a smile; obviously he was pleased with the effect of his own drawn talismans.

Ball after ball of fire shot up into the sky, just like ignited gasoline bombs. After a short while, as the flames died down, all the ghosts had been eliminated. Originally there were dozens of evil spirits, but now only five or six remained floating in the air after Xiao Yu threw out several talismans.

The old Taoist was visibly frightened when he saw Xiao Yu kill half his evil spirits in an instant; although he still had many other methods, yet he knew that they would not work well on someone like Xiao Yu who is also a Qimen Dao practitioner. Furthermore, until now, the old man could not see through Xiao Yu and did not detect any aura fluctuations from him or his talismans. However, this was an actual Qimen Dao practitioner, so it gave him great anxiety.

"Boom..."

In the time that he was stunned, a few more evil spirits were destroyed by Xiao Yu; seeing only five or six remaining floating in the air, the old man’s face turned vicious.

The old Taoist snarled and pulled out two talismans from his bag. He made hand gestures as if reciting something silently while closing his eyes.

"Duo..."

The old Taoist opened his eyes and shouted loudly, throwing the talismans in his hand.

It was seen that the two remaining evil ghosts floating in mid-air were instantly penetrated by the talismans, which carried an ominous black light as they were casually thrown by the old Taoist.

The moment these talismans entered the bodies of the evil ghosts, they exploded, releasing a gloomy black light that filled every corner of the evil ghosts’ bodies.

"Ahhh... Ahhh..."

The originally weak and dwindling evil ghosts, after absorbing this ominous black light, saw their aura increase several times over. It was as if they had been injected with adrenaline; they looked up to the sky, shaking their heads like a rattle drum, emitting excited howls.

With the howls of the evil ghosts, streams of dark mist spewed out from their mouths, nostrils, and earholes, dispersing in mid-air.

The two evil ghosts stopped howling, glanced at Xiao Yu without any expression, then charged down with a surge of malevolent energy gathering around them, further amplifying their already heightened氣勢。

Seeing the two evil ghosts charging towards Xiao Yu with overwhelming might, the old Taoist stepped back and retreated to a small hall nearby.

The two evil ghosts were merely triggered by his talismans to unleash all their potential. It wouldn’t be long before they faded away.

Seeing the old Taoist running towards the small hall, Xiao Yu swiftly followed after him.

With a rush, the two evil ghosts, carrying an aura of malevolent energy, swooped down in front of Xiao Yu, blocking his path.

In that instant, the old Taoist had already disappeared into the small hall, but Xiao Yu did not give it much thought. He knew there was only one exit to this villa and according to the map drawn by the woman, it should lead downward towards a basement area, so he wasn’t worried about the old man escaping.

Glancing at the two intimidating evil ghosts blocking his path, Xiao Yu understood that the sudden surge in their power was due to the old Taoist's stimulation of their potential.

Xiao Yu knew how to do what the old Taoist did to stimulate the potential of the ghosts. However, Xiao Yu’s method was far more sophisticated; with such crude methods as this old man’s, these evil spirits would dissipate after unleashing all their potential. But if done by Xiao Yu The ghostly souls that had been stimulated wouldn’t disappear but could even recover given some time.

Xiao Yu paid no heed to the two ominous ghosts and walked straight towards the small hall.

The two evil ghosts seemed to be enraged by Xiao Yu's disdain, emitting陣陣嚎叫 and charging towards him.

Xiao Yu didn't even glance at the two ghost souls charging at him. Just as the two evil ghosts were about to approach him, he closed his eyes, and a head-shaped phantom appeared above his head.

Yin Soul Departure—When the two evil ghosts reached Xiao Yu's front, his yin soul emerged from his body. Although it only showed a head, it was more than enough to deal with the two evil ghosts.

As the evil ghosts approached, a merciless and low growl echoed from the mouth of the yin soul skull above Xiao Yu’s head.

Xiao Yu activated the Ghost Devouring Heaven and Earth technique. Above his physical body, the yin soul head quickly expanded like an inflating balloon until it reached a diameter of ten feet. Then, Xiao Yu's yin soul opened its massive mouth and sucked in the two evil ghosts that had flown to him.

The initially mindless evil ghosts now emitted陣陣驚恐的哀嚎, struggling desperately to escape from Xiao Yu’s yin soul's gaping maw, but no matter how they struggled, there was no effect. Their figures didn't even pause and were sucked into the mouth of Xiao Yu's yin soul.

The moment the two evil ghosts were absorbed, the ten-foot-wide head instantly shrank back to its original size. The yin soul head then revealed a satisfied expression, belched loudly, and re-entered Xiao Yu’s body.

Xiao Yu opened his eyes, a trace of brilliance flashed across them as he showed a content smile. Previously, he had always worried about the excessive power of his yin soul being too strong for his physical body to handle after leaving it.

But since last time when helping Wan Jiayi find her soul and severely depleting his yin soul energy until only an outline remained, today it finally recovered a bit.

Xiao Yu didn't even look at the corpses of the men lying in pools of blood behind him. He stepped towards the small hall where the old Taoist had disappeared. Although this was Xiao Yu’s first time killing someone, in Zhong Kui's memory, Zhong Kui killed many people with extremely cruel methods.

Moreover, when Xiao Yu searched through Zhong Kui's memories last night and wandered through that bizarre world in his thoughts, he had deeply imprinted on him much more brutal scenes than these.

In the small hall, according to the woman’s description, Xiao Yu found an elevator which brought him down to the basement.

The entire basement was a large hall surrounded by iron-doored rooms. These cells were like prison cells with only a square opening below the door for delivering food and necessities to the inmates.

Standing in the center of the great hall, Xiao Yu felt everything around him, trying to locate where the old Taoist was locked up.

Suddenly, from a room at the upper left corner, there came an intense wave of Yin Qi and raging resentment. This energy was as powerful as that of the ghost in the villa.

Xiao Yu stood there, looking serious as he gazed at the room exuding a powerful 'wave' of energy.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing cackling sound came from inside the room, filled with excitement and arrogance.

Upon hearing the old Taoist's laughter, Xiao Yu inwardly thought, "Something’s not right," recalling what that woman had said earlier: over the past three years, nearly twenty girls ended up隻剩她和另外一個女孩。當時蕭煜就有一種不好的預感。

看來蕭煜的擔憂是正確的，應該是這個老道煉成了另外一隻九子鬼母，蕭煜的臉色漸漸變得凝重起來，冇想到這九子鬼母剛一成型就這麼強大，如果再讓它成長一段時間，還有誰能製得住它？

這段內容中，“隻剩她和另外一個女孩”直接翻譯為英文會顯得不夠通順。為了保持上下文的連貫性和表達清晰度，這裡提供一個更自然的表述：“In the end, only she and another girl were left.” 請參考：

Upon hearing the old Taoist's laughter, Xiao Yu inwardly thought, "Something’s not right," recalling what that woman had said earlier: over the past three years, nearly twenty girls ended up leaving, with only she and another girl remaining. At the time, Xiao Yu had a bad premonition.

It looks like Xiao Yu's concern was correct; it seems this old Taoist has successfully created another Nine Sons Ghost Mother. Xiao Yu’s expression gradually turned solemn as he realized just how powerful this newly formed Nine Sons Ghost Mother already is. If allowed to grow for even a little while longer, who could possibly control it

With a loud bang, the iron door of the room where the old Taoist was staying was struck forcefully from the inside several times before being torn off and thrown to the ground like a piece of wood.

The old Taoist emerged first from the house, spotting Xiao Yu standing there. He let out an arrogant cackle as he stepped outside.

A female ghost with a hideous face floated out behind him, nine small ghosts surrounding her without any sense of self, floating up and down beside her.

The grudges carried by these ghosts were so intense they seemed almost tangible, shrouding the brightly lit hall as if covered in a gray veil.

As this layer of oppressive grudge filled the entire hall, Xiao Yu's ears suddenly filled with chaotic wails and cries of sorrow:

"Wuu... Wuu..... Give me back my life........."

"I'll go to King Yan and report you......................"

"I wish I could eat your flesh, drink your blood............"

Dozens of ghosts with bloody bodies or missing arms and eyes around Xiao Yu reached out towards him, lunging fiercely.

Xiao Yu watched all this coldly. He knew it was merely an illusion created by the oppressive grudges in the room, designed to make him attack these phantoms and thus deplete his energy and talismans.n't harm Guo Jiangg; his worry was merely instinctive, and seeing Xiao Yu's firm answer put his mind completely at ease.After removing the bandages from Guo Jiangg, Xiao Yu examined where his bones we...